By JOSH MORRISON

Tribune Staff

SOUTH POINT — The Chesapeake Panthers know how to avoid a bad situation. They run the ball.

The Panthers rushed for 372 yards to avoid any letdown as they rolled past the South Point Pointers 48-21 Friday to remain unbeaten in the Ohio Valley Conference and set up next Friday’s showdown for the league title against Coal Grove.

“This was a trap game for us because we were coming off an emotional win over Fairland last week,” said Chesapeake coach Phil Davis. “We knew we had a chance to play for the conference championship next week if we won, and this is a game that you can lose very easily.”

Chesapeake is now 4-5 and 4-0 in the OVC. They host the 4-0 Hornets who routed Fairland 52-12 to set up the season-ending showdown.

“We have been encouraging our kids with the idea that when you start conference play that you still have a chance to win all the games, but you have to play hard in every game,” said Davis.

The Panthers used their running game to build a 35-0 lead at the break and coasted in the second half.

Dylan Nichols led the Panthers’ ground game with 107 yards on just three carries. Nate Jones ran three times for 76 yards, quarterback Austin McMaster rushed six times for 59 yards and Patrick Hintz added 48 yards on 10 carries.

South Point managed only 173 total yards — just 5 passing — with Curtis Jackson running five times for 85 yards.

Despite the loss, South Point coach Doug Shilot said the young and inexperienced Pointers showed some positive signs.

“Our team is still fighting and trying and we will regroup and move forward towards next Friday,” said Shilot. “We saw some things tonight and we can build on moving forward towards next week.”

After being pinned inside the 1-yard line following a South Point punt, Nichols broke the Panthers’ third play of the game for 90-yard touchdown run and Jacob Wells’ conversion kick made it 7-0.

“Our kids kept their focus all week and they went out an played hard. Sometimes when you get a quick score like we did, you can go into cruise mode and not play so well. But the kids kept playing hard and that is the thing I like the most,” said Davis.

Chesapeake went 65 yards in 15 plays on the next series with Austin McMaster hitting Brandon Noble with a 15-yard scoring pass and it was 13-0.

The Panthers’ defense forced yet another punt and again it took only three plays to score as Trey West went 1-yard for the touchdown. McMaster threw to Patrick Hintz for the conversion and a 21-0 lead.

South Point turned the ball over on downs on its next possession and Chesapeake extended its lead with a 20-yard TD run by Jones. Wells’ kick opened up a 28-0 lead.

“Our defense played well,” said Davis. “(South Point) was going up an ddown the field on Rock Hill making some long runs. We were afraid that they could do that to us, but the kids played good technique, played hard, and it helped that we were able to control the ball on offense.”

McMaster threw a short 3-yard scoring strike to Jon Pinson with 45 seconds left in the half to open up a five touchdown lead.

South Point recovered an onside kickoff to start the second half but fumbled the ball away at their own 45.

McMaster — who completed the only two passes he threw — rambled 32 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter as Chesapeake went up 42-0.

South Point didn’t quit as they went 78 yards in 12 plays capped by Trey Campbell’s 4-yard scoring run as time ran out in the third quarter and it was 42-6.

Jackson ran 57 yards for the next Pointers’ touchdown with 9:20 to play and Tevin Mitchell added the conversion to make it 42-14.

Chesapeake’s second team then drove 66 yards in 13 plays with Simeon Combs going the final yard for the score and a 48-14 lead.

Jackson recovered a fumble and ran 44 yards for the game’s final score with 56 seconds to play. Dillon Saxton kick the conversion.

Chesapeake 13 22 7 6 = 48

South Point 0 0 6 15 = 21

First Quarter

Ch — Dylan Nichols 90 run (Jacob Wells kick) 8:59

Ch — Brandon Noble 15 pass from Austin McMaster (pass failed) 0:42

Second Quarter

Ch — Trey West 1 run (Patrick Hintz pass from Austin McMaster) 10:01

Ch — Nate Jones 20 run (Jacob Wells kick) 5:46

Ch — Jon Pinson 3 pass from Austin McMaster (Jacob Wells kick) 0:45

Third Quarter

Ch — Austin McMaster 32 run (Jacob Wells kick) 9:44

SP — Trey Campbell 4 run (run failed) 0:00

Fourth Quarter

SP — Curtis Jackson 57 run (Tevin Mitchell run) 9:20

Ch — Simeon Combs 1 run (run failed) 1:54

SP — Curtis Jackson 44 fumble return (Dillon Saxton kick) 0:56

Ch SP

First downs 16 5

Rushes-yards 51-372 33-168

Passing yards 18 5

Total yards 390 173

Cmp-Att-Int 2-2-0 1-8-0

Punts-average 1-28.0 4-31.8

Penalties-yards 1-5 5-40

Individual Leaders

RUSHING-Chesapeake: Dylan Nichols 3-107, Nate Jones 3-76, Austin McMaster 6-59, Patrick Hintz 10-48, Chad Meadows 7-31, Caleb Lindsey 3-21, Trey West 7-20, Alex Workman 5-11, Simeon Combs 4-8, Cody Conrad 1- minus 5, team 2-minus 4; South Point: Curtis Jackson 5-85, Kyle Dickess 9-38, Trey Campbell 5-34, Tevin Mitchell 8-22, Will Hill 4- minus 4, Austin Majher 2-minus 7.

PASSING-Chesapeake: Austin McMaster 2-2-18; South Point: Austin Majher Austin Majher 1-7-5, Tevin Mitchell 0-1-0.

RECEIVING-Chesapeake: Brandon Noble 1-15 TD, Jon Pinson 1-3; South Point: Kyle Dickess 1-5.